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Post by anointedteacher on Aug 26, 2010 23:59:39 GMT -5
Did you know that Glenn Beck is planning a rally to take place on the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous 'I Have a Dream Speech' What's more, Beck's rally is being held at the same location where King gave his speech in 1963 and will feature guests like Sarah Palin! I just signed a pledge to stand with Martin Luther King Jr.'s vision of a just, diverse and equal society. We cannot let Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin destroy and distort King's vision. As King once said: 'Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter'. We can't become silent. Sign the pledge: www.glennbeckisnotmartinlutherkingjr.com |
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Post by krazeeboi on Aug 27, 2010 14:48:08 GMT -5
Even Beck can't mar King's legacyBy Eugene Robinson Friday, August 27, 2010 The majestic grounds of the Lincoln Memorial belong to all Americans -- even to egomaniacal talk-show hosts who profit handsomely from stoking fear, resentment and anger. So let me state clearly that Glenn Beck has every right to hold his absurdly titled "Restoring Honor" rally on Saturday. But the rest of us have every right to call the event what it is: an exercise in self-aggrandizement on a Napoleonic scale. I half-expect Beck to appear before the crowd in a bicorn hat, with one hand tucked into the front of his jacket. That Beck is staging his all-about-me event at the very spot where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his immortal "I Have a Dream" speech -- and on the 47th anniversary of that historic address -- is obviously intended to be a provocation. There's no need to feel provoked, however; the appropriate response is to ignore him. No puffed-up blabbermouth could ever diminish the importance of the 1963 March on Washington or the impact of King's unforgettable words. Lincoln and King will always have their places in American history. Beck's 15 minutes of fame and influence are ticking by. The most offensive thing about the rally is Beck's in-your-face boast that the event will "reclaim the civil rights movement." But this is just a bunch of nonsense -- too incoherent to really offend. Beck makes the false assertion that the struggle for civil rights was about winning "equal justice," not "social justice" -- in other words, that there was no economic component to the movement. He claims that today's liberals, through such initiatives as health-care reform, are somehow "perverting" King's dream. But Beck's version of history is flat-out wrong. The full name of the event at which King spoke 47 years ago was the "March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom." Among its organizers was labor leader A. Philip Randolph, the founder of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and a vice president of the AFL-CIO, who gave a speech describing the injustice of "a society in which 6 million black and white people are unemployed and millions more live in poverty." Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), then an official of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, was the youngest speaker at the march. "We march today for jobs and freedom, but we have nothing to be proud of, for hundreds and thousands of our brothers are not here -- for they have no money for their transportation, for they are receiving starvation wages," he told the crowd. Referring to proposed civil rights legislation, Lewis said: "We need a bill that will provide for the homeless and starving people of this nation. We need a bill that will ensure the equality of a maid who earns five dollars a week in the home of a family whose total income is $100,000 a year." From the beginning, King's activism and leadership were aimed at securing not just equal justice but equal opportunity as well. When he was assassinated in 1968, King was in the midst of a Poor People's Campaign aimed at bettering the economic condition of all underprivileged Americans, regardless of race. But why am I wasting my breath? Glenn Beck isn't interested in history, and he certainly isn't interested in the truth. He just likes to set off little rhetorical firebombs that grab attention -- and boost the ratings for his television and radio shows.Since Beck has called President Obama a "racist" and accused him of having a "deep-seated hatred for white people," it's safe to assume that some people will attend Saturday's rally because of a sense of racial grievance and an urge for some kind of payback. But many will attend for other reasons, and they're the ones I feel sorry for. As the growth of the Tea Party movement clearly demonstrates, millions of Americans feel alienated from their government, distressed about the economy and frightened of the future. Their concerns deserve to be heard. Instead, their anxieties are exploited by hucksters who see fear and anger as marketing tools. Saturday night, when the event is done, the Lincoln Memorial will still be the place where King gave one of the most memorable speeches of the 20th century. People who came to the rally in search of answers will still be looking. And Glenn Beck will still be a legend in his own mind.
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Post by anointedteacher on Aug 29, 2010 13:05:19 GMT -5
Glenn Beck's Hypocritical Revival by John Avlon Info The talk sensation looked more like a televangelist at his “Restoring Honor” rally this weekend, but his preaching about unity only proved that his biggest adversary is himself. The Rev. Glenn Beck staged a religious revival on the National Mall in Washington yesterday. His “Restoring Honor” rally sidestepped politics, instead offering a tribute to the troops and calls for a new Great Awakening, proclaiming “We’ve got to go to God Bootcamp,” to the applause of hundreds of thousand of followers. But the most striking thing about Beck’s heartfelt evangelism was its hypocrisy. “We’re dividing ourselves,” Beck lamented. “There is growing hatred in the country. We must be better than what we’ve allowed ourselves to become. We must get the poison of hatred out of us, no matter what smears or lies are thrown our way… we must look to God and look to love. We must defend those we disagree with.” It made me wonder if Glenn Beck has ever watched the Glenn Beck show. The man offers a daily drumbeat of division for a living, earning $32 million last year selling his paranoid snake oil. It’s almost impossible to keep up with Beck’s serial fearmongering, though a stroll through Media Matters will give an authoritative sampling. Just a few of his greatest hits include: • “We are a country that is headed toward socialism, totalitarianism, beyond your wildest imagination.” • “There is a coup going on. There is a stealing of America… done through the guise of an election.” • “The president is a Marxist... who is setting up a class system.” • “The government is a heroin pusher using smiley-faced fascism to grow the nanny state." • “The health-care bill is reparations. It's the beginning of reparations." • And of course, speaking of President Obama, “I believe this guy is a racist” with “a deep-seated hatred of white people.” You can’t profit from fear and division all week and then denounce them one Saturday on the National Mall in Washington and hope nobody notices. But Beck sure tried, offering a string of aphorisms in a rambling speech that was equal parts sermon, history lesson, and motivational seminar: “We, as individuals, must be good so that America can be great;” “We must not just explore outer space; we must explore inner space;” “Somewhere in this crowd is the next George Washington;” “What you gaze upon you become;” “I testify to you now that one man can change the world!”; “There is a lot that we can disagree on. But it is values and principles that unite us;” “We must not have fear and we must not get lost in politics.” What accounts for this split personality? I’ve argued in the past that there is a Good Beck and a Bad Beck, and they are usually struggling for supremacy inside his head. The Good Beck is genuinely patriotic and deeply religious, ascribing his recovery from drug and alcohol addiction to his family and his newfound Mormon faith. • John Avlon: Glenn Beck’s “I Have a Nightmare” • John Batchelor: The Beck Rally is HarmlessThe Bad Beck is such a talented broadcaster that he knows how to manipulate an audience’s emotions. He uses conflict, tension, fear and resentment to keep their attention day after day, buying his books, attending his rallies. The two coexist uneasily under the justification that the Bad Beck promotes the Good Beck. He is advancing himself in order to advance a greater cause. And I can only imagine that in the Beck-centric universe, yesterday was supposed to represent the triumph of the Good Beck over the Bad. The fact that his 100-year Plan for America was abandoned in favor of “faith, hope and charity” set to an Aaron Copland score, symbolizes the elevation of religion over political ambition. But you can’t just escape your past, even if you’re selling redemption. A gospel choir singing “unity” only goes so far. For all Beck’s exhortations about the importance of personal responsibility and telling the truth, those principles apparently do not extend to his professional life. The biggest pre-rally controversy was the question of whether Beck was qualified to “reclaim the civil-rights movement” and carry the mantle of Martin Luther King (and this was before LittleGreenFootballs.com unearthed a clip of Beck calling MLK a socialist earlier this year). In a taped video tribute to King, Beck visually compared Tea Party protesters to civil-rights marchers, and quoted MLK self-referentially, saying “We must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.” The irony was compounded when signs of hate at Little Rock were flashed on the screen, reading “Race-Mixing is Communism” and “Stop Race-Mixing—March of the Antichrist.” The photo offers fleeting evidence of a continuum between those who embraced hate during the civil-rights movement and those who encourage Obama Derangement Syndrome today. But the Bad Beck who fear-mongers for fun and profit was nowhere in sight yesterday. Instead, there was charity for a great organization, the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. The crowd was broad and peaceful, with none of the anger associated with last summer’s protests. Even Sarah Palin was on her best behavior, speaking as a soldier’s mom rather than a politician, and firing off only one thinly veiled dig at President Obama: “We must not ‘fundamentally transform’ America as some would want. We must restore America!” Restoring America. Reclaiming the civil-rights movement. Restoring honor. This is the language of “taking our country back.” Each of these apparently uplifting statements pushes off the idea that something has been lost in America since the election of Barack Obama—not just jobs, but the character of the nation itself. They are slogans that would divide America into God-fearing patriots and secular socialists, creating the emotional argument beneath hyper-partisanship—an all-or-nothing struggle that pits “us” against “them,” with the fate of the nation at stake. In other words, exactly the dynamic that Beck spent so much time trying to disavow. At the end of his three-hour revival meeting, Beck asked the crowd to keep the spirit of faith, hope, and charity alive in their actions, warning, “This wakeup call will fade if it was just about today, and the critics will be right.” And so I’ll be watching, waiting to see if Beck keeps faith with his call to “get the poison of hatred out of us.” It will presumably mean no longer demonizing people who disagree with him, no longer using fear or hate as a recruiting tool to pump up ratings. Beck told his audience to attend any house of worship, provided “that [it] is not preaching hate and division”—it is a standard that will have to apply to his own televangelism as well. |
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Post by krazeeboi on Aug 29, 2010 17:40:18 GMT -5
Restoring America. Reclaiming the civil-rights movement. Restoring honor. This is the language of “taking our country back.” Each of these apparently uplifting statements pushes off the idea that something has been lost in America since the election of Barack Obama—not just jobs, but the character of the nation itself. They are slogans that would divide America into God-fearing patriots and secular socialists, creating the emotional argument beneath hyper-partisanship—an all-or-nothing struggle that pits “us” against “them,” with the fate of the nation at stake. In other words, exactly the dynamic that Beck spent so much time trying to disavow.
Pretty much. I'm just waiting to see how this backlash will REALLY play out in the months and years ahead. Even if, say, the Republicans regain control of Congress in November and Obama loses in 2012, there's going to be another moment when there will be a Latino or a Muslim or whatever running for high political office. What form will the hatred take at that point?
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Post by krazeeboi on Aug 30, 2010 17:01:34 GMT -5
After Washington rally, Glenn Beck assails Obama's religionBy Felicia Sonmez Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, August 30, 2010; 8:46 AM Conservative commentator Glenn Beck voiced sharper criticism of President Obama's religious beliefs on Sunday than he and other speakers offered from the podium of the rally Beck organized at the Lincoln Memorial a day earlier. During an interview on "Fox News Sunday," which was filmed after Saturday's rally, Beck claimed that Obama "is a guy who understands the world through liberation theology, which is oppressor-and-victim."
"People aren't recognizing his version of Christianity," Beck added.(On Faith: Beck's Mormon faith often viewed skeptically)Beck's attacks represent a continuing attempt to characterize Obama as a radical, an approach that has prompted anxiety among some Republicans, who worry that Beck's rhetoric could backfire. The White House has all but ignored his accusations, but some Democrats have pointed to the Fox News host to portray Republicans as extreme and out of touch. Beck made the remarks in answer to a question about his previous accusation that Obama was a "racist" who has "a deep-seated hatred for white people." He contended that that statement "was not accurate" and that he had "miscast" Obama's religious beliefs as racism. Obama told NBC's Brian Williams on Sunday that he hadn't watched the Lincoln Memorial event but that he supported the right of Beck and his supporters to rally. Obama said that given the country's economic and national security woes, "it's not surprising that somebody like a Mr. Beck is able to stir up a certain portion of the country." The Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., the onetime pastor of Obama's former church in Chicago, is an adherent of black liberation theology, which centers on the struggles of African Americans and the importance of empowering the oppressed. Obama severed ties with Wright during the presidential campaign after some of the minister's inflammatory language drew controversy. Beck, on his Fox News show last Tuesday, said that liberation theology is at the core of Obama's "belief structure." "You see, it's all about victims and victimhood; oppressors and the oppressed; reparations, not repentance; collectivism, not individual salvation. I don't know what that is, other than it's not Muslim, it's not Christian. It's a perversion of the gospel of Jesus Christ as most Christians know it," Beck said.Earlier this month, a Pew Research Center survey revealed widespread confusion over Obama's religion. A plurality of the poll's respondents, 43 percent, said they did not know which religion Obama practices. The White House responded in a statement after the poll's release, reiterating that Obama "is a committed Christian." Obama, asked on NBC about polls showing confusion over his religion, pointed to "a network of misinformation that in a new media era can get churned out there constantly." (See video of Obama discussing his faith in NBC interview.)In the wake of Saturday's rally, Democrats have gone on the offensive against Republicans by claiming that the event was evidence that the GOP has been overtaken by extreme elements in the party. Republicans have taken a more muted approach to the event, with some avoiding any mention of it altogether. On CBS's "Face the Nation," Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) said that the rally made clear that "there is a raging battle going on within the Republican Party for the heart and soul of the Republican Party." Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, head of the Republican Governors Association, responded that the rally was a reaction to the Obama administration and congressional Democrats, who he said "have taken the biggest lurch to the left in policy in American history." Estimates on the size of the rally have varied widely. According to one commissioned by CBS News, 87,000 people attended the event. Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin (R), who also spoke at the event, told a reporter afterward that she thought more than 100,000 people had attended. Beck said that the crowd was between 300,000 and 650,000, and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), speaking at her own event after the rally, said that no fewer than 1 million people had been in attendance. Also in Sunday's interview, Beck dispelled rumors that he might be considering a run for president in 2012, with Palin as his running mate. "Not a chance. I don't know what Sarah is doing. I hope to be on vacation," Beck said, adding: "I don't think that I would be electable." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So, pray tell, what in the world makes a MORMON like Glenn Beck a legitimate theologian???
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Post by Nikkol on Aug 31, 2010 12:47:15 GMT -5
Have ANY of you attended this rally? I'd love to hear from someone who actually went..... who would be non-partisan. I thought these were nice pics....beautiful site    |
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Post by And Such Were Some Of You on Aug 31, 2010 12:52:43 GMT -5
beautiful
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Post by Nikkol on Aug 31, 2010 13:02:19 GMT -5
So, pray tell, what in the world makes a MORMON like Glenn Beck a legitimate theologian??? Does one's religion make or not make one a theologian? |
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Post by Nikkol on Aug 31, 2010 13:17:49 GMT -5
And to top it all off, Beck’s rally raised $5.5 million to help the families of special-operations soldiers killed in battle. |
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Post by anointedteacher on Aug 31, 2010 22:09:02 GMT -5
Only show how many racist white and uncle tom black in this country... not so pretty to me.. Sad There were approx. 80,000 not hundreds of thousands
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Post by anointedteacher on Aug 31, 2010 22:12:29 GMT -5
The question should be, was God there?... Did God honor it? You can't be an hateful racist on one day, than a saint another, than go back being hateful racist the day after.... Blind ppl
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Post by krazeeboi on Aug 31, 2010 22:56:21 GMT -5
I have absolutely no respect for Glenn Beck, so I had no reason whatsoever to attend this rally. I'm actually not a big fan of these types of rally period. People love to march, but rarely do they follow up all of the symbolism with any concrete action. So, pray tell, what in the world makes a MORMON like Glenn Beck a legitimate theologian??? Does one's religion make or not make one a theologian? No (as there are atheists who are theologians), but allow me to go into detail. Beck attempted to define Obama's religious views (why was that even necessary in the first place?) and then say that they fall outside of the parameters of mainstream Christianity. That is the irnoy of ironies, as Mormonism teaches that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three totally separate spirit beings and that Jesus and Satan were brothers, among other things (not to say anything of its well-documented explicit racist teachings by the earliest leaders of the church). On top of this, Beck has no formal religious training and God knows he's not privy to whatever relationship President Obama has with Jesus Christ. I have no clue what this rally was really all about or what it hoped to PRACTICALLY accomplish. It was called "Restoring Honor," but how exactly has America been dishonored and when? This was nothing more than a bunch of folks still mad that McCain and Palin lost and can't get over that fact. I'd be more inclined to take these Tea Party folks seriously if they didn't hitch their wagon to the Republican Party. And it's too bad, because they could have actually made a real difference on the political landscape via their very real and legitimate concerns about the role of government, deficit spending, etc. |
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Post by krazeeboi on Sept 1, 2010 0:17:18 GMT -5
On top of everything else I mentioned, Glenn Beck says that gay marriage isn't a threat to the country and that government should have nothing to do with it. So I guess I'm a bit confused here when these religious people say they think the president is a Muslim or don't know what religion he is (even though he's spoken and written extensively about his Christian faith), presumably based on some of his liberal political views, but generally speak well of Beck (and his religious rally), who's 1) a member of a cultict sect and 2) holds views contrary to most social conservatives, and not to mention biblical principles, about gay marriage. Obama, on the other hand, has championed equality for gays but has explicitly said he is not for gay marriage. People really baffle me. [/i]Modified by Nikkol to make the link work |
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Post by Nikkol on Sept 1, 2010 6:39:36 GMT -5
Only show how many racist white and uncle tom black in this country... not so pretty to me.. Sad There were approx. 80,000 not hundreds of thousands Now THAT statement sounded VERY racist..... and of course, you probably weren't there to actually take a personal poll to prove that statement.  Unlike popular demand, everything is NOT about race all the time. And if the TRUTH be told, race can't stand against the power of God. I'm a Christian first and most of all....not a "black person"/"African American person"/"X" (standing for whatever "new" name those of color want to go by next) |
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Post by Nikkol on Sept 1, 2010 6:47:06 GMT -5
The question should be, was God there?... Did God honor it? You can't be an hateful racist on day, than a saint for one even, than go back being hateful racist the day after.... Blind ppl I think that we know that God is everywhere, right? And yes, you can be a hateful racist and then a saint the next day. :-). |
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